


Status Ailments

by LyriaBlackFrost



Series: Fic Requests [23]
Category: Persona 5
Genre: Confessions, Confusion, Fluff, M/M, Status Effects
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:42:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24580234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LyriaBlackFrost/pseuds/LyriaBlackFrost
Summary: Ryuji is afflicted with negative status effects during a fight in Mementos, and Akira doesn’t know what to do about it.
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Sakamoto Ryuji, Persona 5 Protagonist/Sakamoto Ryuji
Series: Fic Requests [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1141385
Comments: 8
Kudos: 184





	Status Ailments

**Author's Note:**

> Requested by an anon. I already wrote [confused Akira](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17304734) in the past, so now it's Ryuji's turn.
> 
> I've been sick the past few days, so please forgive me if I let something weird slip during revision. :')
> 
> I hope you like it!

The strange shadow caught them by surprise.

The group was busy with a few missions in Mementos while waiting for Futaba Sakura to wake up. As they made their way into that distorted place, however, they were ambushed. Nothing unusual, and it wouldn’t be such a problem if the group wasn’t already running low on items. Still, they fought with everything they had, defeating their opponents one by one.

Just as it seemed that they would win without many complications, that strange shadow appeared, dragging its dark, deformed body with its tentacles, roaring with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

“What the hell is that thing?” asked Ryuji.

“I don’t know…” answered Ann, crinkling her nose. “But it smells disgusting!”

And she was right. Akira felt his stomach turn at the foul smell of that creature, instinctively taking a step away from it. Ryuji glanced around until his gaze met Akira’s.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “You guys get rid of the other ones!”

“Alright,” answered Akira. “I’ll join you in a moment!”

The group fought against the remaining shadows. Noticing that there were just three of them left, Akira turned his attention to the one Ryuji was facing, which also seemed about to fall. Before he could join his friend, however, Morgana raised a paw in front of him.

“Wait… something is…” Morgana interrupted his sentence, widening his eyes. “Skull, get away from it!”

But it was already too late. The strange shadow cast what seemed to be some kind of magic attack, similar to a dark mist. Ryuji tried to evade it, but was too close to properly do so. He fell on his back with a surprised sound, and Akira’s heart clenched at the sight.

“What just happened?” asked Makoto.

“A magic attack,” answered Morgana. “We should defeat it before it can do it again!”

“Joker, go help Skull!” yelled Ann, raising her whip. “We’ll take care of that shadow!”

Ann, Makoto, Yusuke, and Morgana surrounded the shadow, but Akira didn’t stop to watch their fight. In a second, he was beside Ryuji, placing a hand on his back to help him sit. Ryuji shut his eyes, covering his face with a hand, taking a few deep breaths.

“Skull, are you hurt?” asked Akira.

Ryuji’s only answer was a small, pained sound. He tried to stand up, but soon fell again, and Akira could tell—from experience—that he was suffering from dizziness. _He knew there was something weird in that shadow’s attack…_ Akira quickly searched his items, relieved to find an alert capsule there.

“Skull, stay still,” he said, crouching beside Ryuji. “This will get better in a second.”

He helped Ryuji take that capsule, and, as soon as it seemed to take effect, helped his friend stand up.

“Are you better now?” he asked.

But, once again, there was no answer.

“Skull?”

Ryuji looked around, slightly furrowing his brow. He moved away from Akira without looking at him, approaching a nearby fallen shadow, crouching beside it, poking it with his finger. When the shadow disappeared into black dust, he let out a small, amused chuckle. Ryuji then noticed a few coins lying where the shadow had been moments before, and took them, proceeding to throw them across the room, one by one.

“Skull… what are you doing?” asked Akira.

Without thinking, he took a few steps towards Ryuji.

“Joker, no!” Morgana’s voice made him stop where he was. “Something is wrong with Skull… I think he’s confused!”

It became obvious as soon as Morgana said it: it was uncommon for one of them to be affected by more than one negative status at once, but that seemed to be the case with Ryuji. Akira took a step back, but his approach had been enough to turn Ryuji’s attention to him. He stared at Akira for a while, then got back on his feet, turning his entire body in his direction, his muscles tensing up.

“Be careful!” said Yusuke.

Akira barely had the time to take a step back before Ryuji darted in his direction, throwing himself against Akira, making him fall on his back with Ryuji straddling his hips. _Shit, he screwed up…_ At that moment, Ryuji’s mind was disconnected from reality, and there was a high chance that he was seeing Akira as an enemy. Akira raised both arms in front of his face, bracing himself for the pain that was about to come. Ryuji grabbed his wrists, easily moving his arms out of the way; then, he leaned forward, pressing his lips against Akira’s.

Akira’s first—and useless—instinct was to freeze in place. He would have thought that had been a poorly-executed headbutt if it had ended there, but it didn’t. No… That was _definitely_ a kiss. Akira’s brain seemed to malfunction with the realization: Ryuji was _kissing him._

Akira’s heart wanted to jump out of his chest with excitement, but his mind kept him grounded. Yes, he knew he was in love with Ryuji, and yes, he had daydreamed about kissing him for months, but… not like that. Not while Ryuji was completely out of it. Gathering strength from he didn’t even know where, Akira freed his arms from Ryuji’s grasp, grabbing his shoulders and pushing him away.

“Stop it!” he yelled. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

Ryuji didn’t try to go against him, simply looking at Akira for a moment. A small, fond smile slowly took his lips.

“I love you,” he whispered.

“What…?”

Instead of answering, Ryuji leaned forward again, resting his face on the crook of Akira’s neck. The feeling of Ryuji’s breath against his skin made a shiver go down his body, but Ryuji didn’t move or say another word.

“Skull…?” called Akira.

Silence. Akira moved slightly away, looking at his face, seeing that he had his eyes closed and carried a peaceful expression.

“Is everything alright?” asked Makoto, approaching them.

Akira looked at her, still trying to make sense out of everything that happened in that last minute.

“He fell asleep…,” he said.

A loud, frustrated groan left Ann’s lips.

“That’s just like him… Falling asleep after doing something like that.” She shook her head, then faced Akira again. “Is he injured?”

Her question made Akira’s mind come back to reality.

“I don’t think so.” He briefly searched Ryuji’s body for any wounds. “No… He’s fine.”

“That’s Skull for you,” said Morgana. “He may be an idiot, but it takes a lot of effort to bring him down. So, what should we do now?”

The group exchanged a few uncertain glances.

“I think we should go back for today,” said Makoto. “Skull is in no condition to keep fighting, and I don’t want to leave him alone in a safe room.”

“What are we going to do with him, though?” asked Yusuke. “We can’t simply take him back home, and leave him there, unsupervised.”

“That’s true…”

No one said another word, but Akira could feel their gazes upon him. He was the leader, yes… But, at that moment, his mind wasn’t ready to make any decisions. He tried to think of the best solution, but the feeling of Ryuji clinging to him in his sleep was nothing but distracting.

“I’ll take him to the Leblanc,” he said, finally. “I can keep an eye on him there.”

“Do you need someone there with you?” asked Ann.

Akira considered it for a moment, before shaking his head.

“No, it’ll be fine.” He hesitated before proceeding. “Besides… I feel like we should have a talk after… you know.”

Despite the lack of clarification, everyone seemed to understand what he meant.

“I suppose so,” murmured Makoto, in a slightly awkward tone.

Unlike her, Ann had an amused smile on her face, and Akira knew that, if he didn’t have a passed out Ryuji right beside him, she would be having _so much fun_ at their expense.

They left Mementos, and the group accompanied Akira to Yongen-Jaya, with Makoto and Yusuke taking turns to carry Ryuji on their backs. They attracted a few gazes on the way, but thankfully no one asked any questions. They disembarked, and once they reached the turnstiles, Makoto helped get Ryuji off Yusuke’s back, and on Akira’s.

“Do you need help with carrying him the rest of the way?” asked Yusuke.

“No, it’s fine.” Akira showed a confident smile, despite his friend’s weight and his own pounding heart. “The Leblanc is pretty close, anyway. But thanks for offering.”

Morgana, who was now inside Ann’s bag, placed his little head outside, looking at them.

“I think I’ll go back with Lady Ann today, so you guys can talk on your own,” he said.

“I’ll keep an eye on my phone, so let us know if you need any help, alright?” added Ann.

Akira nodded.

“Thanks.”

He crossed the turnstiles, slowly making his way to the Leblanc. Damn, Ryuji was heavy… After every step, Akira was taken by the fear that his arms would give in and he would drop his friend on the ground. Somehow, he managed to reach the cafe, only to realize he couldn’t open the door. With a small sigh, he used his head to knock on the door, hoping that no one was around to see it. It took a few seconds for Sojiro to open it, looking at him with his brow furrowed.

“What are you—” His sentence was cut short as soon as he looked at Ryuji. “What the hell happened?”

“Low blood pressure,” Akira said the first thing that came to his mind, loud enough for a wide-eyed client to hear as well. “The heat wasn’t good for him.”

_He had just described himself…_ Thankfully, Sojiro didn’t question it.

“Is he fine, though?” he asked. “Shouldn’t we take him to a hospital?”

“No, it’s okay,” answered Akira, stepping inside. “He only needs to rest a little.” He thought for a moment. “But… Could you help me take him upstairs?”

Sojiro did as Akira asked. As they put Ryuji on the bed, he casually asked if Akira really wasn’t getting into any trouble, to which Akira answered that no, he was acting as well-behaved as always. The answer made Sojiro narrow his eyes, but he didn’t insist on the subject, going back downstairs.

Akira checked on Ryuji again, just to make sure that he hadn’t missed any small wounds. Soon, however, his mind was filled with that sudden kiss, and a strong feeling of restlessness fell upon him. Could that have meant something? Was it wrong to hope that, despite his confusion, there was a true feeling behind Ryuji’s actions and words? Akira didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he couldn’t push those thoughts out of his mind either.

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Ryuji finally woke up. Akira leaned over him, his thoughts from moments before giving place to concern.

“Hey…” he said. “Can you hear me?”

Ryuji looked at him with a confused expression.

“Aki…?” he said. “Where are we?”

“In my bedroom,” explained Akira. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah…” Ryuji sat on the bed, taking a moment to move his arms and legs. “I think so.”

“Are you feeling any pain?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Akira nodded, relieved. He gave Ryuji a moment to recover, using it to gather his courage to ask his next question as well.

“Do you remember what happened?”

As he forced his memory, Ryuji’s expression slowly changed from a furrowed brow to widened eyes.

“Not really…” he said, quickly.

“Are you sure?”

Ryuji hesitated for a moment, lowering his gaze.

“I… I probably had a weird dream, that’s all,” he said.

So, he remembered it. Akira’s anxiety started to grow.

“Do you remember saying anything?” he asked.

Instead of answering, Ryuji stared at him with an almost panicked expression.

“Why?” he asked. “Did I say somethin’ weird?”

“I wouldn’t say _weird,_ but…”

Akira couldn’t find the right words, and the following silence only made it more difficult for him to say anything else. Ryuji hugged his own arms, seeming smaller at each passing second.

“It wasn’t a dream, was it?” he asked in a low voice.

“No,” admitted Akira.

“I see…”

He didn’t say anything else after that, and Akira had the feeling that, if he didn’t break the silence, it would last for hours.

“Do you like me?” he asked.

The question was enough to make Ryuji flinch.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“You didn’t answer my question,” insisted Akira.

Ryuji took a deep breath, facing Akira without looking him in the eyes.

“Aki, listen…” he said. “I know it’s weird, but… I’ll get over it, okay? And I’ll keep it to myself until then, so… Please, just forget what I—”

A strong feeling spread throughout Akira’s entire body, and before he could stop himself, he grabbed Ryuji by the collar of his t-shirt, pulling him into a kiss. Ryuji’s body went completely stiff, but, as the seconds passed, he started to relax, allowing himself to hug Akira’s waist. Akira was the one to break the kiss, looking into Ryuji’s eyes at that close distance.

“You _still_ didn’t answer my question,” he whispered.

“You already know the answer,” said Ryuji with a small, awkward laugh.

“But I want to hear you say it. Properly, this time.”

Ryuji lowered his gaze, taking a second to say it.

“I love you.”

Akira smiled, his chest filled by pure bliss.

“I love you too.”

Ryuji raised his brow, his relieved expression accompanied by just a hint of frustration.

“You could’ve told me earlier!” he said. “I was almost panickin’ here!”

“I was afraid you just said it because of the confusion,” admitted Akira.

“I did, but…” He stopped talking, rethinking his sentence. “I mean, I wouldn’t have said it if I wasn’t…”

He struggled with the words. Akira watched him, then placed a hand on his cheek, calling his attention.

“I get it,” he said.

“Good…” answered Ryuji with a small sigh. “‘Cause words really ain’t workin’ right now.”

His honesty made Akira giggle. Ryuji looked at him, showing a small, fond smile.

“Aki…” he said. “Can I get another kiss?”

“Just one?” asked Akira in an amused tone.

Ryuji shrugged.

“Unless you wanna give more.”

A grin took Akira’s lips as he closed their distance once again. Ryuji would probably regret those words, because, if the choice was on Akira, then he wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon.

**Author's Note:**

> Did I just throw a Malboro in Mementos? Maybe... ~~Couldn't resist a small FF reference~~
> 
> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it!


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